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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft this afternoon and evening investigated the well-defined low pressure system located
about 350 miles east-southeast of Barbados. Surface winds were measured between 40 and 45 MPH prompting Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings for several countries in the immediate path of the storm. Showers and thunderstorms, along with gale-force winds are expected in the area through Friday and additional warnings may be necessary. The storm is expected to track towards the Bahamas by early next week. We will continue to monitor this storm as it may be necessary to alter cruise ship itineraries depending on the strengthening of the storm.

(8/5) MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 50 MPH...85 KM/H...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SLOW WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND
BERTHA IS LIKELY TO BECOME A POST-TROPICAL OR EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONE
ON WEDNESDAY.

Full coverage of this, and all tropical storms, can be found on our Hurricane Zone
page. There are RSS feeds from the National Hurricane Center posted
there giving you up to the minute information. For storms that impact
cruises, we will bring you information on those details as well. Please
bookmark that page for further reference during the Hurricane Season
which runs now through November 30th.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE WARNING AREA...IN THIS CASE WITHIN
THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE
POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...IN THIS CASE WITHIN 24 TO 36
HOURS.

WIND...TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN PORTIONS OF THE
SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS OVER THE NEXT
FEW HOURS.
RAINFALL...BERTHA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3
INCHES WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 5 INCHES ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS
OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AS WELL THE TURKS AND CAICOS THROUGH
MONDAY.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

We've just completed our ninthannual appearance at the Streamwood Summer Celebration's Business Expo sponsored by the Streamwood Chamber of Commerce.

The Summer Celebration runs the last weekend of July each year and is well attended. The weather cooperated with a variety of temperatures but now rain. Saturday was hot and humid, but that didn't prevent record crowds from attending the event. The fire department had their hose shooting water in the air for those that wanted to cool off. They were closely monitoring the wind on Sunday, as gusts were as high as 35 MPH.

In addition to show-casing local businesses in the expo tent, there were plenty of activities for families. Local bands performed throughout the weekend, there was a parade on Saturday with over 100 entries this year, rides for the children and young at heart, bingo, face-painting, ice cream eating content for the children and lots more. Many volunteers from the village make this a special event each and every year.

Lots of Interest in Land & Sea Vacations

We spoke to many couples, families, and individuals that were interested in getting away for a vacation. As usual, we had a large supply of brochures, which we call "wish books" on hand. One of the most popular brochures was the Royal Caribbean Quantum-class brochure which highlights this marvelous new cruise ship which will debut in the Fall.

Unfortunately, I couldn't talk with everyone personally this year because I was splitting my time between my booth and the Streamwood Chamber of Commerce's booth. As Vice President of the Chamber, I was kept busy getting the businesses setup on Friday, answering questions at our booth, making announcements, and judging contests. I'd like to thank my Executive Assistant, Donna Lenhardt, who was invaluable in getting the event setup and assisting me throughout the weekend. Also thank you to my husband Gary, who has as much knowledge about the various vacation options as I do, for manning my booth.

Special Promotion Continues

We had a special Norwegian Free for All Promotion with the 3rd to 8th passenger in the same cabin sailing for free on select sailings now through 2014. We had other offers including an exclusive Shore Excursion $100 credit which expires on July 31st. For those looking for a Resort Getaway, see our current Resorts & Tours Specials.

To Our New Followers

We'd like to welcome new readers to our Blog, Facebook fan page, Twitter, Pinterest, and
website, who stopped by to talk with us at the Summer Celebration. I look
forward to talking to you more in the future to help plan a great cruise
or land vacation for you and your traveling companions. We've included
links here with a brief explanation of some of the resources we offer to
our followers. Please be sure to take advantage of all these
opportunities, as that is the best way to stay informed.

If you haven’t signed up for our eSavers Newsletter
yet, be sure to do so. This is just one of our communication vehicles
to keep you informed about industry news and special offers for our
loyal followers.

Be
sure to visit our Facebook Fan Page and "Like Us" so that you can be in
the inner circle of our Fans. You’ll have the opportunity to be the
first to know about specials and other exclusive information, such as
updates from cruise lines.

We have several boards on Pinterest which might be of interest to you.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Friday is here again, and we'll be including some of our images in the Twitter photo chat #FriFotos. It took us a few minutes before we knew exactly what images in our archives would best depict this theme. Here are just a few...

Cruise Ship Entertainment

In particular, the aerial and acrobatic shows must definitely get the performers adrenaline going. The feats that these performers accomplish are even more amazing when you think about the fact that their stage and any gear used in the act is moving / rolling with the waves of the seas.

Blue Planet

One of our favorite shows was on Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. It's a high energy show that uses all sorts of props like the suspended globe above. Imagine being suspended high above the stage and clinging to a globe while performing several maneuvers such as the ones pictured above.

Another segment of the show has the performers bouncing among "rocks" in an elaborate prop that has a trampoline in the center. It's not too bad when only one person jumps, but imagine several jumping from either end at the same time, again while the ship is moving.

Ice Skating at Sea

Also on Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas, you'll find ice skating shows that will thrill you. Just like in an Olympic event, ice
skating jumps are an important part of the show.

There are triples, doubles and quads. There are Toe Loops, Loops,
Flips, Salchows, Axels, Lutzs and Sequence Jumps. These maneuvers are hard enough to perform on land, without adding the additional element of ship's motion to the equation.

Some of the acts feature individual skaters while others have partners or even an entire cast of skaters performing their parts as if acting out a play.We've only included a couple images here, but we have many more in our album:

Aqua Theater ShowsAnother entertainment feature on the Allure of the Seas is the Aquatic Shows in the Aqua Theater. The shows feature high diving and other acrobatics.Once again, we have many more images on Twitter and in our photo album:

We really enjoy these high-energy shows on cruise ships. Royal Caribbean is one of the best cruise lines when it comes to entertainment. They even have their own production company for Broadway style shows.

Once a year we participate in our local Chamber of Commerce hosted Summer Celebration.
This will be our 9th appearance at the show. I am Chairman of the Chamber's Summer Celebration Committee once again and am excited to report that the Business Expo will be even bigger than last year. I will be splitting my time between the Chamber Booth and my personal one, and look forward to meeting many of our fans during the three day event.

For those in the area, it is your chance to meet us in person to
discuss your vacation plans, pick up some brochures, and take advantage
of our exclusive offers. Here is
one of those specials that we will be featuring during the event July
25th - 27th. We also extend the offers to our readers - ask us for
complete details. (click the link above for times and location)

Even if you aren't able to visit us at our booth, you can still take advantage of our special offers like this one from Celebrity Cruises.

You may be familiar with Celebrity's 123Go promotion where you select from the three amenities.

Don't know which amenity to select?You don't have to choose!We are giving you All 3 Choices for a limited time only. Click image for details.

We rarely write about our
cruise and land offers in our column, but these were too good to pass
up. Don't miss out on these great deals! We hope to meet many of our local fans at the Summer Celebration. This is one of the best parts of the business - being able to have 1-1 conversations in person to help plan your dream vacation. So where do You want to go?

We get several calls for cruise ship and land vacation brochures. In
this day and age, the majority of the suppliers have cut down on printed
materials and replaced them with online versions.

We stock brochures that are available from our suppliers on a regular
basis and increase our stock in time for this annual event. If you are
in the area, this is a great opportunity for you to browse our "wish
books".

Did you know that was how I convinced my husband to take an Alaska
cruise? He had said, "It's cold there. We live where it's cold. Why
would I go on a vacation to somewhere that is cold?" Well we've been
back to Alaska several times since that initial look at an Alaska
brochure.

What's on your wish list? If we don't have a brochure, we'll be happy
to do some research and provide you with all the details.

Come see us if you are in the area this weekend - or call us afterwards to discuss your wish list.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Approvals have been given for the salvage team, directed by Titan Micoperi, to commence one of the final stages in the salvage of the Costa Concordia.

Refloating To Begin

Refloating stages
The refloating operation will be divided into 4 separate stages. The
refloat will be complete when the greatest possible amount of water has
been pumped out of the sponsons and the ship is virtually parallel to
sea level.

Stage 1: Partial refloating and eastward movement of the wreck

Stage 2: Attachment and tensioning of the chains and cables and final positioning ofthe starboard sponsons

Stage 3: Actual refloating - At this stage the actual refloating will commence

Stage 4: Final maneuvers and departure of the ship from the island

Salvage experts will conduct the refloating operations from the
Remote Operations Center (ROC) located on the Concordia. The monitoring
systems will be
handling the ballast in the sponsons and guaranteeing vessel stability,
trim and the even
distribution of the forces acting on the hull.

UPDATE: 22 JULY 2014

Today, Costa Concordia departs from Giglio on its final voyage.

A convoy of several tugs and support vessels has begun the slow journey from Giglio to the final port call for Costa Concordia in Genoa, Italy where
it will be dismantled and sold for scrap. We have followed this story
since that fateful Friday the 13th in 2012. This final journey, will
take about 4 days as the convoy proceeds at about 2 knots, roughly the
speed of walking.

Here
are some images and stories which we have found on the web. Most
interesting may be how Giglio gets back to "normal" whatever that means.
It was a small town that was not very well known until it became
center stage with a global audience watching.

CNN: How do islanders feel about the Costa Concordia departing? The answer may surprise you: http://cnn.it/1A4XoTq

Once it is afloat, the wreck will be ready for transportation to its final destination, namely the
Port of Genoa Voltri. Two possible courses have been selected with the actual course determined by conditions at the time of towing commencement. The course pictured above, courtesy of Titan Micoperi, would cover 208 nautical miles. The second course would be slightly shorter.

UPDATE 03 July 2014:

Costa Crociere: installation of all sponsons completed, ten days to possible refloating

Genoa, Italy has been selected to receive the vessel for salvage

“Following installation of the last sponson, we
can start the countdown to refloating and final departure of the wreck
from Giglio Island,” said Costa Crociere CEO Michael Thamm. “Now
all our energies are focused on the successful conclusion of this
unprecedented engineering challenge to respect a precise commitment:
remove the Concordia wreck as soon as possible, in compliance with the
highest environmental and safety standards.”

Sunday, July 20, 2014

The next #travelpics will take place Monday, July 21st, 2014, from 3-4pm
Eastern time (8-9pm UK time). This week’s questions are all about budget travel.

Preparing for this week's Twitter photo chat, we gave that question some serious thought. Most likely the first thing that comes to mind is backpacking across Europe, traveling by rail, and staying in hostels. That's fine if you are in your early twenty's but after that, we doubt that would be your preferred method of travel.

Cruising Europe

We can't argue that backpacking across Europe is the epitome of budget travel, but for those that can no longer travel in that fashion, the next best thing could be seeing Europe by cruise ship. If you are coming from the United States, the cost of air travel will be your largest component. Since it is a fixed cost, no matter what you do upon arrival in Europe, we will not factor that into our budget assessment.

We'll use a Baltic cruise for an example on how cruising in Europe can be budget travel. A typical Baltic itinerary will have about 7 or 8 ports of call. If you were to visit those same ports by making your own travel arrangements, it would most likely include several flights between the various destinations, which as we've already mentioned could add significant cost to the trip. Likewise, you would need to have lodging in each destination.

With a cruise, your lodging and transportation between countries is already included in the price. Meals and entertainment are also included, all of which would have been extras if sight seeing on your own.

Exploring Ports

There are many ways to explore the countries that the ship visits. There are several options which fall in the budget travel category. We'll explore some of those which we used during a past cruise to the region.

The picture above is a "hop-on-hop-off" bus. With this form of transportation you can typically start the tour when you get off the ship and conclude back at the ship, making a circle around the port city. For one low price, usually around $20 USD, you have the option to get on and off the bus as many times as you like to see points of interest along the route. This is how we toured Copenhagen for example.

In several of our ports, there were shuttles from the ship that would take us into town. In Stockholm, we took the shuttle and then after a short walk, we were able to book a boat excursion "Under the Bridges of Stockholm". This two hour tour was one of the highlights of the cruise. We also used the shuttle method to go to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen for an evening at the amusement park.

In many ports of call, it was possible to simply walk to nearby attractions. Such was the case in Bergen, Norway. In this picture, we walked to the Fløibanen Funicular, one of Bergen's most popular attractions. Ride the tramway to the top for views of the entire area.

If you decide to have a meal while in port, for example in Bergen, you have a full range of choices from the choices for the budget minded to expensive. Perhaps something in the fish market would give you a taste of Bergen on the budget side.

The great thing about cruising is that it is all about choice. The cruise lines offer excursions, which typically cost more than if you organize the same tour on your own. The benefit to the ship's tours is that you don't have to plan anything and also, they are responsible for getting you back to the ship on time. Which ever way you decide to go, you have already saved money by not having to pay for hotels, meals, entertainment and additional transportation during your multi-port visit.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

If you've never been on a cruise, the following information about signs you'll see onboard your ship may come in handy.

For Cruise Veterans:

You may not have even noticed some of these signs the last time you were on a ship. Perhaps you should pay more attention to the signs the next time you are on a cruise.

For Every Cruiser:

Please pay attention to the Safety signs - they are there to protect you and make sure everyone enjoys their cruise.

In this article we'll feature signs that we photographed on Carnival Conquest. You'll find similar signs on the other cruise lines as well. Knowing about the types of signs onboard will help you make the most of your cruise vacation.

Safety Signs

The sign above is posted on your stateroom door. It contains the layout of your deck, marks your location, and emergency exits. It also contains information about what to do in an emergency including how to put on your life jacket. This is important reading, especially for first-time cruisers.

This next group of signs have important safety and conservation information. It is everyone's responsibility to help prevent illness by washing their hands. Everyone on board the ship needs to work together for the comfort and safety of others and to preserve the environment for the future.

Click for Larger Images

Directional Signs

Here are just a few examples of signs that help you find your way on the ship. In this modern age there are now electronic signs that provide current information and directions. Public rooms have a sign on the door similar to this one (note it even has braille lettering). Lastly, you'll see signs like the one in the middle that direct you to popular locations on the ship.

Food & Beverage Signs

These signs come in several types. The first one lists the hours of operation of a very popular bar on Carnival cruise ships. The second sign instructs you on how to order your custom-made burrito. Finally there are signs describing drink packages which can be purchased on your first day on the ship, which could possibly save you money over the length of the cruise (depending on how much you'd normally order). For more information on drink packages, see our previous article Bottomless Bubbles & Cheers.

Activity Signs

There is a lot happening on the ship each day. Cruise lines may also use signage to advertise popular events so that you don't miss them. Here we learn about some casino special events and shore excursions.

Informational Signs

The remaining signs we'll put in this category. Typically they tell about special offers, which may be time limited. Pictured are a sign explaining discounts in the shops, another one suggesting you capture a special image as a souvenir, and lastly how to earn bonus points on the money spent on your cruise.

This Friday on Twitter

#FriFotos is a weekly photo forum by @EpsteinTravels@TravelDesigned@CharlesYap. Theme is revealed every Tues 12pm ET. If you can't guess, this week's theme is #SIGNS so we thought we'd get a head start with this selection. Be sure to join us on Friday.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Monday we joined #TRAVELPICS chat on Twitter for a fun packed hour exchanging ideas and travel photos with like-minded posters. The theme was “texture” and participants shared their own travel pics about the theme and answered pre-arranged questions. Here are our replies.

The instructions were to be creative, so we dug into our archives and selected an image where we'd taken one of our photos and using a photo editor turned it into an entirely different image. Click on the link to learn more about how this and other examples shared in that post could become a part of your travel portfolio.

Q6: Textures add interest to landscapes near and far. From your backyard
to travels abroad, share a “colorful” photo!

Our final example has a mixture of color and textures along with people to make a very appealing image. Bergen is one of our favorite ports in Norway. It can easily be explored on your own and there are plenty of photo spots to add to your enjoyment.

We only had an hour to share some of our #texture images. The time passes so quickly during the chat. Hunting through our archives to prepare for the chat brings back memories of our trips.

We hope that this has sparked your interest in taking your photography
to a new level. Follow the weekly #travelpics chat on Twitter for more
ideas on this and other travel topics. We'd love to hear your ideas as
well, or better yet, join us for the next chat.

Thank you to this week's co-hosts: @AntiTourist, @TheTravelCamel,
@Sihpromatum, @VibrantIreland, and @travellingmolly.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Have those words ever come out of your mouth? I suspect that they have - I know I've said them. We've been cruising for more than 30 years now, and yet I'm always amazed by the talent that goes into food presentation on board cruise ships. Every plate at dinner is a masterpiece in its own right, with everything placed in the exact spot and all the ingredients working together to make an appealing dish. But that is just the beginning of food presentation on a cruise ship ...

Food Art

The ship above is amazing. It almost looks like we could sail the seven seas - all we need is a crew. During our behind the scenes Galley Tour we had the opportunity to see how food is prepared and also experience some of these works of art. This is the first in a mini-series about the talented chefs onboard Caribbean Princess.

Here we have a violin that is perched above the buffet counter. It reminds me of art on a shelf in gift shop or gallery.

All that is missing is the sign: "Pretty to look at, pretty to hold, but if you break it, consider it sold."

Click on any of these images for a closer look. We simply loved the time and effort that the Princess Cruises staff put into these culinary works of art. They definitely added to the enjoyment of our cruise.